The Honey Herd

The Honey Herd 🐝
New beekeeper in Anglesey sharing the journey from hive to honey. 🐝🌿Beekeeper in training, sharing the ups & downs of hive life in Anglesey.

Follow the journey from colony to honey – real, honest & hands-on. Watch on YouTube:

12/06/2026

Today I discovered that one of my walk-away splits had failed to produce a laying queen and had developed laying workers instead.

After several weeks without finding a queen, I found multiple eggs in cells and drone brood only. With no sign of worker brood, I decided to shake the bees out in front of three strong production colonies so the workforce could still contribute to the apiary.

It's never nice to lose a split, but failures are part of beekeeping too. Every colony teaches you something.

🐝 How would you have dealt with this situation?

Would you have shaken the bees out as I did, tried introducing a queen, combined the colony, or done something else?

I'd be interested to hear how other beekeepers would approach it.

25/05/2026

Just checked on the Menai Apiary and the hive entrances are absolutely alive with bees right now 🐝
Loads of activity whenever the weather gives them a break. Hopefully a good sign of strong colonies building into the season.
How are your bees looking at the moment? 👇

10/05/2026

Popped to the Farmhouse Apiary today to see the bees being busy! Hopefully making some fantastic local honey.

02/05/2026

May In the Apiary - mixed spring weather but colonies are already swarming

Main Actions
Swarm prevention and Control

Inspections
Inspect regularly especially for swarm preparations
Ideally every 5-7 days
It is up to 8 1/2 days till a Queen cell gets sealed
It can be a shorter time if they start with a larvae

Swarming
Knocking down queen cells will NOT prevent swarming
Charged Queen cells with royal jelly & larvae in need action now
Artificially spit colonies if swarming looks likely
Choose one method you fully understand and stick to it
Pagden, Nuc, Demaree etc
Have a swarm collection kit ready (box/sheet/ secateurs /brush/smoker)
Have plenty of spare kit ready

Pests & Disease
Colony expanding?
If not why not?

Space/Supers
Add supers as required ahead of the hive becoming overcrowded
Add second brood box on strong colonies
OSR flow remove honey crop before it sets/extract immediately

Beginners
Ideal time to buy/sell overwintered nucs of local bees

Other
Queen Rearing – Pick a simple appropriate method – Miller/Demaree
Comb changes – Good month to perform

02/05/2026

Right at the hive entrance today… 👀
This little ambush predator was waiting for its moment 🕷️🐝
Nature doesn’t stop at the hive — even the bees have predators watching them.
Would you leave it… or move it on?

21/03/2026

Got into the bees yesterday during a bit of warm weather here in North Wales.

I moved a few nucs into full-size hives and had a quick look through them. Two colonies looked stronger than I expected for this time of year… but one has me a little concerned.

Still very early in the season, so I’m not jumping to conclusions—but I’d be really interested to hear what others think.

Have you come across a queen looking a bit “off” this early before?

10/03/2026

I stopped by the Menai Apiary yesterday planning to tidy up some equipment ready for spring.

But I ended up doing something far better.

Just sitting and watching the bees.

It was around 12°C and sunny, and there was plenty of activity at the hive entrances. From the outside it looks like all seven colonies may have made it through winter, although one hive did seem a little quieter than the others.

There are definitely bees in every box, which is a great sign for early March here in North Wales.

We’ll need a couple more weeks of warmer weather before proper inspections to know for certain.

But for now… it’s looking promising.

How are your colonies looking so far this year?

07/03/2026

Yesterday I opened the first hive of the season at the Menai Apiary.

What I found inside really surprised me.

The hive was extremely wet, several frames were mouldy, and the entrance had become blocked by winter losses… and yet somehow the queen was still alive and laying.

Bees never stop surprising you.

The full Field Notes video is now on The Honey Herd YouTube channel.

honeybees, beekeeping, bees, beekeeper, beekeepinglife, apiary, honeybee, beekeepinguk, thehoneyherd

27/02/2026

Yesterday I collected eight full double-brood hives from a beekeeper who kept bees for many years.

Cold. Windy. Wet.

Today I’m finishing sorting them properly at the Menai Apiary. They’re older, well used, clearly looked after — and they’ll need a bit of TLC.

There’s no rush to fill them.

The goal remains the same: 20 healthy colonies going into winter.

Field Notes #8 is now live.

For those of you who’ve taken on second-hand kit before — did you fully refurbish it first, or phase it in slowly over time?

26/02/2026

REAL BEEKEEPERS DO IT IN THE RAIN!!

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Isle Of Anglesey

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